Geoffrey Hanks graduated from University College London with a BSc in Anatomy in 1967. He qualified in medicine in 1970 and has been working in palliative medicine since 1979. He was a Research Fellow with Robert Twycross in Oxford, and for almost 10 years was Consultant Physician in charge of the Palliative Care Units at the Royal Marsden Hospitals, London & Sutton and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Cancer Research, University of London and at the Medical College of St Bartholomew’s Hospital (Department of Clinical Pharmacology). He was appointed to the first Chair of Palliative Medicine in the UK in the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals, University of London. He was Professor of Palliative Medicine in the University of Bristol from 1993 until his retirement in 2006 and continues in that role in a part-time capacity.
Amongst other appointments he has been Chairman of the Palliative Care Clinical Studies Development Group of the National Cancer Research Institute in the UK, Chairman of the National NHS Cancer Research and Development Commissioning Group, Chairman of the Palliative Care Research Committees of both Marie Curie and Macmillan Cancer Relief, and a Member of the Sub-Panel on Cancer Studies for the Research Assessment Exercise 2008 of the Higher Education Funding Council for England. He is currently Honorary President of the European Association for Palliative Care and a Vice-President of Macmillan Cancer Support. He was the founding Editor of the European Journal of Palliative Care, has been Editor-in-Chief of Palliative Medicine since 2002, and is a joint Editor of the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine. His research interests have been focussed on various aspects of the clinical pharmacology of opioid analgesics.
